I’ve said it before and I’m sure I’ll say it again, but everything happens for a reason.
This week we had to get our boiler serviced. A lovely guy turned up to give us the required piece of paper we needed in order to move house. Instead of simply checking it and filling in the form, he had to declare it unsafe for use and turn it off. He told me it could easily have exploded. He needed a part which had to be ordered. You know how these things go? In the meantime, he had to turn off our hot water and heating. (Praise the Lord for His invention of Summer.) I was not able to see a bright side. It meant further delays to our move (potentially losing school places for the boys) and inconvenience, especially as I had guests to stay. I ran upstairs and sobbed for a full minute in my bathroom before composing myself and paying the bill.

Four days later, after Jon had sourced and bought the part needed in Stockport, and I had spent evenings running up and down stairs with hot kettles to fill the bath for the little ones, the same man returned. Somehow, despite the presence of five noisy children in the house, we managed to have one of the most lovely ‘God-inspired’ conversations I’ve ever had the privilege to hold. He was genuinely interested in what I believed and shared some of his own thoughts. One of the most intriguing things he said was the fact that science held such big gaps for him. He said he had to believe there was a God. I agreed and said there was no scientific explanation for many things that we know are there; love, for example. We talked about this, and other topics for some time.

During our chat, the doorbell rang. It was a youth who told me he was on a young offender program. Apparently, if he managed to hold down a job selling things door-to-door for a given period, he would then be sponsored to do a two year plumbing course. I live in an area where cold-calling is banned, so have never had anyone like him before. I asked him to tell me his story. (With the heating engineer listening in to bits of the tale.) What I heard melted me; bad choices made because of bad connections. I felt emboldened to somehow show this guy he was not a failure and that he would make something of his life. I swopped him a set of scissors for one of my albums and wished him well.

The heating engineer went (an hour late) to his next appointment with his own copy of the album. I prayed all evening that both guys would listen to it and feel both comforted and challenged by the words.

Neither had had the love or approval of Father figures in their lives and were trying their very best to handle what life had thrown at them.
I so want them both to come to understand that whilst there is no scientific explanation for love, there is a sure and certain love and acceptance for them found in a heavenly Father. My album could be sitting in a workshop or in a young offenders institute somewhere today.

That alone is worth not having a shower for a few days.